The New York Times - USA (2020-10-10)

A10 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALSATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2020

The World Food Program was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on
Friday for its efforts to combat a
surge in global hunger amid the
coronavirus pandemic, which has
swept around the world with dev-
astating impact.
The Nobel committee said that
work by the organization, a
United Nations agency, to address
hunger had laid the foundations
for peace in nations ravaged by
war.
“In the face of the pandemic, the
World Food Program has demon-
strated an impressive ability to in-
tensify its efforts,” Berit Reiss-An-
dersen, the chair of the Norwe-
gian Nobel Committee, said as she
announced the prize in Oslo. “The
combination of violent conflict
and the pandemic has led to a dra-
matic rise in the number of people
living on the brink of starvation,”
she added.
In many nations, particularly
those at war, the combination of
conflict and the pandemic has
sharply increased the number of
people on the brink of starvation.
As the global fallout from the pan-
demic began this spring, the
World Food Program estimated
that the number of people experi-
encing life-threatening levels of
food insecurity could more than
double this year, to 265 million.
The World Food Program — the
largest humanitarian organiza-

tion addressing hunger and pro-

moting food security internation-

ally — last year provided assist-

ance to nearly 100 million people

in 88 countries.

The Nobel committee’s recogni-

tion of a United Nations agency

comes as the United States under

President Trump has very pub-

licly pulled back support for the

global organization.

Since he took office in 2017, the

United States has withdrawn from

several United Nations bodies and

slashed funding for others, al-

though World Food Program con-

tributions have increased. Mr.

Trump has contended that the

United States is shouldering an

outsized financial responsibility

for the global body as compared

with other countries.

In the spring, Mr. Trump halted

funding to the World Health Orga-

nization, a U.N. agency that has

been coordinating the global re-

sponse to the pandemic.

The World Food Program, es-

tablished in 1961 after a proposal

by President Dwight D. Eisen-

hower, has been a major behind-

the-scenes player helping people

affected by some of the world’s

most devastating humanitarian

disasters, including famine in

Ethiopia in the 1980s, wars in

Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the 2004

Asian tsunami and the 2010 Haiti

earthquake.

Several United Nations and

World Food Program leaders

mentioned in their responses to

the Nobel Peace Prize that the

program depended on voluntary

funding to be able to carry out its

work.

The organization has long faced

problems funding some of its larg-

est operations, such as in South

Sudan, where seasonal rains and

conflict have disrupted food avail-

ability for as long as the program

has existed. Most recently, it be-

gan a campaign to fund its Yemen

operations, where a yearslong

conflict has led to the world’s

worst humanitarian crisis.

“The world is in danger of expe-

riencing a hunger crisis of incon-

ceivable proportions if the World

Food Program and other food as-

sistance organizations do not re-

ceive the financial support they

have requested,” the Nobel com-

mittee said.

The Nobel Peace Prize comes

with a cash award of 10 million

Swedish kroner, about $1.1 million.

Yet the agency has met with

criticism that its food sourcing

methods hamper already weak lo-

cal food markets. The organiza-

tion buys most supplies on the

global market, and development

experts have criticized it for offer-

ing contracts to major donors —

like the United States — in what

has come to be known as “tied

aid,” or the practice of tying hu-

manitarian donations to purchas-

ing contracts. In response, it has

pledged to eventually 10 percent

of its supplies from smaller local

farms.

Its employees have at times

also been accused by investiga-

tors, journalists and local groups

of malpractice, such as stealing

and selling food that is meant to be

distributed for free. In a major op-

eration in Uganda last year where

the organization tried to feed

thousands of refugees, four died

and hundreds became sick, lead-

ing to internal investigations.

The program’s workers also

risk their lives to carry out the

program’s mission, however, and

several lost their lives — sacri-

fices that António Guterres, the

United Nations secretary general,

noted after the award was an-

nounced.

“The women and men of the

W.F.P. brave danger and distance

to deliver lifesaving sustenance to

those devastated by conflict, to

people suffering because of disas-

ter, to children and families uncer-

tain about their next meal,” he

said in a statement on Friday.

Mr. Guterres also said there

was “a hunger in our world for in-

ternational cooperation,” noting

that the program relies on contri-

butions from U.N. member states

and the public.

One of the program’s key mes-

sages is that, in most cases hunger

is the result of human actions

rather than nature’s whims. Yem-

en is a case in point: Food exists,

but hyperinflation and conflict

make it practically unavailable to

those who need it most, including

children.

In a telephone interview, David

Beasley, the program’s executive

director, said the prize had turned

an important spotlight on the mil-

lions who go hungry around the

world and on the devastating con-

sequences of conflict.

“It’s the first time in my life I’m

speechless,” he said, adding that it

was both wonderful and bad news

to receive, because it highlighted

not only the work being done, but

also the depth of the need for it.

Mr. Beasley said it was an “in-

dictment of humanity” that any-

one could want for food “in a time

when there is so much wealth in

the world.”

“It’s a call to action,” he said of

the prize. “The world is suffering

more than in any time period, and

we literally will be facing famines

of biblical proportions if we don’t

act.”

World Food Program Is Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for Work in Pandemic

By MEGAN SPECIA

and MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF

A World Food Program delivery in Yemen in 2018. The Nobel

committee said the group advanced peace in war-torn nations.

HAMMADI ISSA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Several have

sacrificed their lives

carrying out the

group’s mission.

The Netherlands should return
looted art to its former colonies:
That’s the official recommenda-
tion of an advisory committee to
the Dutch government.
After a year of research, includ-
ing interviews with people in for-
mer Dutch colonies such as Indo-
nesia, Suriname and several Ca-
ribbean islands, the committee re-
leased its report in Amsterdam on
Wednesday.
The decision on whether to re-
turn an object, however, would ul-
timately rest with the Dutch gov-
ernment, and after a similar rec-
ommendation was made in
France in 2018, only a single object
has since been given back.
“The principle is fantastic,” said
Jos van Beurden, an independent
researcher who has specialized in
restitution since the 1990s, of the
Dutch decision. “But I’m worried
about the execution.”
The lawyer and human rights
activist Lilian Gonçalves-Ho
Kang You, who led the committee
in the Netherlands, said in an in-
terview that the government
should acknowledge the injustices
of colonialism and be willing to re-
turn objects without conditions if
it can be proven that they were ac-
quired involuntarily, and if their
countries of origin ask for them.
The report calls for the creation
of a body of experts to investigate
objects’ provenance when re-
quests are made, and a publicly
accessible national database of all
the colonial collections in Dutch
museums.
Ingrid van Engelshoven, the
Dutch minister of education, cul-
ture and science, who commis-
sioned the report, said in an
emailed statement that it offered
“clear starting points for a new
way to handle colonial col-
lections.” She said she would
present draft legislation based on
the advice in early 2021.
The Netherlands owns hun-
dreds of thousands of objects that
were acquired during the coun-

try’s colonial history. But the ex-

act number is unknown.

Creating a database and re-

searching the background of all

these objects would be a huge un-

dertaking, according to Mr. van

Beurden.

Recent experience in France

shows that when it comes to resti-

tution, the path from ideas to ac-

tion can be a long and winding

one.

After a high-profile 2017 speech

in which President Emmanuel

Macron promised to return much

of Africa’s heritage, he commis-

sioned a report from two academ-

ics who said that items brought to

French museums without the per-

mission of their countries of origin

should be returned, if they were

requested.

Since 2018, when the report was

released, only 27 restitutions have

been announced, and only one ob-

ject, a traditional sword from Sen-

egal, has been returned.

Delays like this have frustrated

restitution advocates. This year, a

Congolese activist tried to remove

artifacts from African collections

at museums in Paris, Marseilles

and the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, France’s National

Assembly passed a bill that would

allow the official restitution of the

27 items, including 26 which

would be returned to Benin,

within the next year. The bill now

has to be considered by the

French Senate.

Bénédicte Savoy, one of the au-

thors the French report, said in an

interview that the bill, which was

passed unanimously, proved that

France now positively welcomed

the restitution debate. Tuesday’s

vote would set a useful precedent

for future restitutions, she added.

“Perhaps the steps are small,

but it seems to me that they are

symbolically big,” she said.

Ms. Savoy said that the Dutch

report was the “logical contin-

uation” of the Netherlands’ long-

time dialogue with its former colo-

nies regarding potential restitu-

tions. “It seems to me that the de-

bate is less tense in the

Netherlands than in France,” she

said, adding that she expected the

Dutch government to adopt the

report’s recommendations.

But attempts by Dutch muse-

ums to reckon with the country’s

colonial past have not always

gone down well with the public.

Last year, the Hermitage Mu-

seum, in Amsterdam, said it

would jettison the term “Golden

Age” for the era in the 17th cen-

tury when the Netherlands was a

world leader in art, science and

trade, because the phrase ob-

scured a history of slavery and ex-

ploitation. That decision was met

with widespread condemnation

and derided by Prime Minister

Mark Rutte as “nonsense.”

Stijn Schoonderwoerd, the di-

rector of the National Museum of

World Cultures, a consortium of

museums in the Netherlands, said

that if the Dutch report were im-

plemented, it would be important

to engage the former colonies in

discussions about the objects they

might want back before any action

was taken.

“It would almost be neocolonial

to presume to know what’s good

for Indonesia or Suriname, or any

other country,” Mr. Schoonderwo-

erd said.

The report also addresses ob-

jects in Dutch museums that came

from countries colonized by other

European powers: The committee

said a decision about returning

those should be made on “the ba-

sis of reasonableness and fair-

ness, and on the basis of a balance

of interests.”

But wherever the objects were

from, Ms. Gonçalves said, the

Dutch government should act to

right the wrongs of colonialism.

“The main principle remains the

same: What was stolen should be

returned.”

The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. The Netherlands owns hundreds of thousands of objects seized during its colonial history.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Report Asks Dutch to Return Artwork to Ex-Colonies

By CLAIRE MOSES

Alex Marshall and Constant
Méheut contributed reporting.

Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You

led the advisory committee.

GERO BRELOER/DEUTSCHE PRESSE AGENTUR, VIA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wooden statues from modern-day Benin at the Quai Branly mu-

seum in Paris. France also has plans to give back African art.

MICHEL EULER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAKAR, Senegal — Four hos-

tages held by armed insurgents in

Mali were freed on Thursday, days

after the country’s newly-formed

government released around 200

prisoners, including some sus-

pected of being jihadists.

The four hostages released in-

cluded Soumaïla Cissé, a promi-

nent Malian politician, Sophie

Pétronin, a French aid worker

who had been held for almost four

years, and two Italians: Pierluigi

Maccalli, a priest abducted in

neighboring Niger in 2018, and

Nicola Chiacchio, who was kid-

napped last year during a solo bi-

cycle trip.

The government, which took

power in September following a

military coup, announced the re-

leases Thursday evening. It said

they had been secured thanks to

the efforts of the country’s intelli-

gence services, the armed forces,

Mali’s partners and a special cri-

sis unit led by a former prime min-

ister, but it did not provide details

of the conditions under which the

hostages were released.

The government’s release of

prisoners last weekend had led to

speculation in Mali that a deal to

free the hostages had been struck.

The freeing of the hostages was

greeted with joy in Mali. Mr. Cissé,

a 70-year-old former opposition

leader who ran for president three

times, had been kidnapped by

armed men in March as he was

campaigning for legislative elec-

tions.

The releases were also wel-

comed in France, where Ms.

Pétronin’s case has been closely

followed.

President Emmanuel Macron

of France said in a statement that

he was “immensely relieved” to

learn that Ms. Pétronin, 75, had

been freed after the Malian au-

thorities announced that the hos-

tages were en route to the coun-

try’s capital, Bamako.

“The president of the Republic

especially thanks the Malian au-

thorities for this release,” a state-

ment issued by the French presi-

dency said. “He assures them of

France’s entire will to support

Mali in the fight it is waging with

perseverance against terrorism.”

The French authorities said

they were unaware of whether a

ransom had been paid for the hos-

tages, and gave few other details

about the operation.

“It is the Malian authorities

who have entirely handled this sit-

uation and this liberation,” Gabri-

el Attal, the French government’s

spokesman, told the broadcaster

France 2. “I have no information

regarding compensation that

would have been provided for this

release.”

Over 5,000 French soldiers are

deployed in the Sahel region to

fight Islamist insurgent groups.

Last year, two French soldiers

were killed in a raid in Burkina

Faso that freed four hostages, two

of them French.

In Italy, Foreign Minister Luigi

Di Maio welcomed the “good

news” of the release. “Father Pier

Luigi Maccalli and Nicola Chiac-

chio are finally free and well,” Mr.

Di Maio said on Twitter.

The Malian authorities said the

four hostages had been held by Ja-

ma’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Mus-

limin, or the Group for the Support

of Islam and Muslims, a coalition

of Al-Qaeda-aligned groups in

Mali.

Mr. Cissé received a hero’s wel-

come at home in Badalabougou, a

Bamako neighborhood, where he

stood out of the sunroof of a car,

waving at a crowd of supporters

blowing vuvuzelas and waving

cellphones.

“I spent six months under con-

ditions that, as you know very

well, were extremely difficult, in

almost total isolation,” Mr. Cissé

told Malian television. “But I must

admit that I never experienced

any violence, physical or verbal.”

Mr. Cissé’s release had been a

key demand of protests against

President Ibrahim Boubacar

Keïta that escalated over the sum-

mer, before he was overthrown in

the military coup.

Ms. Pétronin, who ran a charity

for malnourished children in Mali,

narrowly escaped a first kidnap-

ping in the eastern city of Gao in

2012 and fled the country, but re-

turned soon after. She was then

kidnapped in Gao on Dec. 24, 2016,

and had been held ever since.

Ms. Pétronin returned to

France on Friday and was wel-

comed by Mr. Macron.

“Deep down, I was certain that I

would come back,” Ms. Pétronin

told the French radio station RFI

after she landed in Bamako on

Thursday and was greeted with a

hug by her son, Sébastien

Chadaud-Pétronin. “I never gave

up,” she said.

Ms. Pétronin said that after

spending some time in France,

she would return to Mali. “I’m go-

ing to come back to see what’s go-

ing on here,” she said, looking frail

but in good spirits.

Standing next to her, her son

sounded more cautious. “We have

to be reasonable,” Mr. Chadaud-

Pétronin said. “You won’t go

wherever you want to.”

The French aid worker Sophie Pétronin, right, with her son in

Bamako, Mali, on Thursday. She was held for almost four years.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

4 Hostages Are Released

By Mali Allies of Al Qaeda

By RUTH MACLEAN

and ELIAN PELTIER

Ruth Maclean reported from Da-

kar, and Elian Peltier from Lon-

don. Constant Méheut contributed

reporting from Paris, and Cheick

Amadou Diouara from Bamako,

Mali.